Universe Unfolding
by Lotus Fantasy
Summary: Sequel to "The Bargain": Far from their homes and the Nine Realms, Tony and Loki embark on a journey of false-pretenses. There's something wrong with the green-eyed god of mischief, and Tony just might be the only one who can save him. Established IronFrost, read "The Bargain" first.
1. First Installment

**ATTENTION, ATTENTION: This is Part II. Don't read it if you haven't read Part I, "The Bargain". I will not recap, and this story won't make much sense if you haven't read Part I.**

**Warnings:** Established relationship, IRONFROST (don't like it, don't fucking read it), violence, citrus! This takes place far, FAR from Earth and the Nine Realms

**A/N:** For those of you who have journeyed all this way with me, don't hesitate to make suggestions or ask me to write content. I'm amazingly good at weaving requests into my plot, and often my lovely readers are inspiration to me. So if you'd like to see me write something, just ask! This story will be more open-format than its predecessor.

* * *

**First Installment: The Beginning of a Journey  
**

When Tony stepped through the gate, he wasn't sure what to expect. Walking into a forest clearing was the very last thing. Blinking, he looked around and wondered if somehow Loki had misled him or tricked him or he was dreaming. Then he looked around and saw a tiny cabin, complete with a little porch. There were bundles of dried herbs hanging off the porch railing and a single chair. Flowers and creeping vines grew all over the place, a small pond sat off to the right, and Tony had the thought it looked like a witch's hut.

And there, sitting on the porch's chair, was Loki. He looked too pale, but the first thing Tony noticed were his eyes. They were gloriously, wickedly _green_ again. His body moved without his permission, and he sprinted across the short distance to the porch. Loki was wearing exactly what he'd been wearing in Tony's bedroom, and it showed he was still a little too thin. But after almost five months of Loki being dead, all he cared about was getting his lover back into his arms.

A smirk crossed Loki's beautiful face as he waited for Tony to come to him. He didn't even bother rising, he just let Tony sweep him up out of the chair, and he did so with alacrity. He crushed Loki to him, burying his face in ebony hair and breathing in as deeply as he possibly could. His legs felt weak when slender arms slid around his waist. Loki made a soft sound of definite protest.

"I am not yet healed, Stark."

Tony immediately relaxed his hold a little, but he didn't let go. "What? I thought . . . but it's been five months."

"Five months," Loki mused, pushing at Tony's hands until the man let go of him. "You'd think that would be enough time, wouldn't you?" He turned and headed into his little cabin.

Tony followed him, looking around curiously. The front room was sitting room and kitchen combined, though there were no amenities that Tony could see. No sink, no indoor plumbing. Just a few rough-hewn tables and counters. The fireplace was well-functional, a fire crackling behind a grate. It all looked plenty cozy, but at the moment Tony was more focused on his lover.

"Loki, what happened to you?"

Loki stopped in front of the fire, staring down at it with an absent expression. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"You must have brought me here because you want to be with me," Tony said, trying not to sound irritated. He was still over the moon Loki was alive after all. "I think I deserve to know. I _need_ to know."

The glare Loki gave him was mild at best. It subsided quickly. "Very well." He started unlacing his leather tunic. "When I fell through the last gateway as I destroyed it, two things happened. First, the Aether had entered my body, so she quickly found a safe place for us. Second, the open link I had with Yggdrasil was finally cut off." He slid the tunic off over his head. "But that was far from everything I needed to heal. First, my own seiðr had already been drained from my body, infected as I was with Thanos'. Then there was the matter of the wounds he'd inflicted on me to better channel Yggdrasil. Not to mention the crystal rod." He had a wry smile on his face.

Tony watched with rapt attention as Loki slid his shirt off over his head, and when it was out of the way he gasped aloud. There were no longer any open wounds, they'd all healed. The crystal rod was gone, and not a mark remained. However, thick lines of gold were still visible on Loki's torso and arms, exactly where the ragged wounds had been. Unable to control the impulse, he reached out and touched. There was no scar tissue that he could feel, but it looked like there were still rivers of Yggdrasil running beneath pale skin.

"What the hell?" he muttered. "I thought you just said the link was severed."

Loki sighed faintly. "I said the _open_ link had been severed. What you see now is just a small part of Yggdrasil. Rather like how I had separated part of the Aether from the rest, part of Yggdrasil's vast energy is trapped inside me. It is just energy now, the intelligence and knowing if Yggdrasil is gone from my mind. But while I was able to purge Thanos' seiðr from my body, I haven't been able to regenerate much of my own. Aether has helped as much as she could, but it has been very slow going."

"Is the Aether still inside you?" Tony asked, feeling an upwelling of emotion he couldn't quite define.

"Of course not," Loki said with a strange look.

"Did you find another crystal for her?"

"No," Loki replied, lowering himself into one of the chairs by the fire. "She's around somewhere. She has taken an interest in herbs and woodworking. All the furniture you see, she made. She also gathered all the dried herbs."

Just as Tony was about to ask how a molten river of energy could do all this, the cabin door opened. The last thing Tony had expected walked through: a girl. She looked to be only seven or eight, and her hair was a silver platinum with the faintest hint of ice blue. Like a frozen, arctic frost. Her skin had a golden cast to it, she was quite thin, and her eyes . . .

Her eyes. _Holy shit,_ was the first thing that crossed Tony's mind. They were molten black and red. "Aether?"

Thin lips immediately curved up into a smile and though they didn't move, he clearly heard, _"Tony."_

"As you can see," Loki said, sounding amused, "she has taken a somewhat more functional form."

The little-girl-Aether set her handful of flowers on the kitchen table and went to Loki's side, taking his hand in both hers. _"Bringing him here,"_ she said in that mind-voice, _"did it tire you? You are still so far from well."_

He lifted her hands and kissed both of them. "It tired me, but not overly much. Would you mind hunting for us, dearest? I'm certain Stark would like more than the vegetables you grow in that beautiful little garden."

"I am more like a carnivore than an herbivore," Tony said, flashing her a grin. And wondering why he wasn't freaked out by the Aether having a body. One that seemed perfectly able to just wander around freely. She trotted out, and he had the absurd thought she looked cute her little green smock, belted at the waist in a wide black ribbon.

Well, whatever. His life had been in turmoil since that fateful day Thor showed up, asking the Avengers to shelter a lost Norse god of chaos.

The Avengers. He felt a pang. Perching on the chair opposite Loki, he leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. "When are you planning to go back?"

Loki didn't look at him. "Back to where?"

Tony resisted the urge to sigh. "Asgard, idiot."

No reaction to being called an idiot. "I'm not planning to go back. I thought I made that plain."

"You did. I thought you were lying."

"Why would I lie?"

"You always lie."

"I wasn't lying. I don't plan to go back. Ever."

"Why not?" Tony demanded, trying to decide if the idea made him angry. He had agreed to come thinking he would never go back, but in the far corners of his mind he'd thought he could talk Loki into returning someday.

"I've no wish to resurrect a life long dead."

Tony snorted in sudden amusement. "Funny thing for you to say, given your position. You just spent almost an entire month on a dangerous-as-fuck quest to protect Earth from the worst danger its ever known, you gained the trust of every single Avenger, most of Nidavellir, the king of Alfheim, and brought the queen of Asgard back. It's like you were laying down building blocks for your new life, and then you just swept it all into the fire. Why?"

"Must I have a reason?"

"Considering you never do a damn thing without a bloody good reason," Tony grumbled, "yes. I _know_ you do, and I want to hear it."

To this, he received no response. It struck Tony how strange Loki was acting. Where was his vibrant, feisty, dangerous lover? He had been replaced with a quiet, unreachable, _cold_ Loki. Sighing, he stood.

"I love you," he said, because he felt it absolutely _had_ to be said just then. When that garnered no response either, he leaned down and pressed his lips to the top of Loki's head. "I'm going to see if the Aether needs any help."

"Just Aether."

"What?" Tony asked, pausing on the threshold.

"Not _the_ Aether. Just Aether."

"Right."

Outside, Tony quietly closed the door and wondered why his heart hurt so much. To his surprise, the little-girl-Aether was standing at the base of the small porch. Her red-black eyes watched him closely, and she beckoned he should follow as she trotted toward the forest on the other side of the pond.

_"I know it's probably not what you expected,"_ she said, _"seeing him."_

"He's different," Tony said, offering her his hand without thinking.

She took it, skipping at his side exactly like a little girl. _"He is unwell. Very unwell. More than unwell. He was damaged by that Mad Titan."_

"Damaged?" Tony said with a frown. "He isn't a tool or a toy, Aether."

_"No, but he was damaged. I counted how many times he lay dying in my arms. Seventeen. All in the space of two of your Midgardian weeks. He cannot regenerate his own seiðr because of that gold energy poisoning him. Until just a week ago, he was too weak to even walk."_

"What!"

_"Yes. There's something wrong with him, Anthony. Something I haven't been able to fix. That's why I pleaded with him to bring you here."_

"Just Tony," he corrected absently, feeling a pain in his chest. "_You_ had to get him to bring me here?"

She looked up at him with those not-little-girl eyes. _"Yes. He didn't want you to pity him. At least, I think. Sometimes I can't quite figure out what he's thinking. But I love him more than anything in all existence, and I knew you could help him."_

A plethora of emotions, tangled and complicated, welled up in Tony's heart. "What can I do? I'm just a damn human. I don't know anything about magic."

_"You've helped him a lot already,"_ she argued at once, tugging at his hand to make him walk faster. _"He was smiling for the first time. You mean a lot to him. He loves you, and he needs what only you can give."_

Despite her words, Tony felt worse than useless. Whether Loki loved him or not, he truly did not know. And he couldn't imagine a single thing Loki could _need_ from him.

Aether released Tony's hand to sink to her knees, carefully starting to pluck some dark purple flowers. _"Don't doubt. I don't like this doubtful Tony. You're Tony Stark. Billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."_ And she flashed him a cute little smirk.

Tony started laughing. "You know, I can't believe you were inside my head when I . . . Jesus, when I fucked Loki."

Her smirk widened into a toothy grin. _"I will never forget it. I feel like I've experienced all of him. I love him, Tony. I love him to infinity. You will help him, won't you?"_

The self-doubt and angst slowly swirled away in the face of those red-black eyes, so ancient and yet so oddly innocent and young. "Yeah. I sure will, princess." He winked.

Her face gave the impression of laughter, though as usual she made no sound. _"That's what you call Loki."_

"I'll just have to upgrade him to goddess."

The mirth stayed on her face as she continued to pick her herbs.

* * *

Well, it's the start of another journey. Remember what I said about requests!


	2. Second Installment

**A/N:** To my guest reviewer who asked how often I update: as often as possible! I try for 2-3 times a week, sometimes I update every single day. I'm a prolific writer. I cracked out 60 chapters of _The Bargain_ in just over six months!

* * *

**Second Installment: Damaged  
**

For over four months, this tiny cabin had been Loki's home. The first thing the Aether did when they arrived on this world was take a permanent form. How she'd done that Loki would never impart to Stark, because he somehow suspected the human would protest. Upon taking a functional form with hands, she'd begun attempting to heal. Not something her power was ever meant to do. She was a force of destruction. Unmaking. Not remaking.

To say she hadn't been the best at it was a hideous understatement.

But she was determined, and she had helped Loki a great deal. Mainly by extracting Thanos' seiðr from Loki's dying body. She'd built them a shelter, built nice little furniture, started a nice little garden, and hunted for meat now and then. It was all terribly domestic.

Terribly fucking domestic.

Grimacing, Loki mentally chided himself for even thinking in Midgardian slang. _I don't want Stark here._

Even as the thought formed, he closed his eyes and pressed fingers to his temples. It was true, but it also wasn't. There wasn't much he wanted more than to have his human lover with him. _Just not like this._ The Aether had pushed and pushed for him to bring Stark here as soon as he was strong enough to walk, and Loki had resisted until just this day. Seeing Stark was sweet and painful. Sweet because he enjoyed Stark's company.

Painful because . . .

He almost jumped when the door opened and Stark strolled back in. He had a bright purple flower tucked behind one ear, and Loki smiled in spite of himself.

"How becoming."

Stark just chuckled. "Aether put it there. It's beyond weird, seeing her as a little girl."

"It has been useful," Loki mused, looking back to the fire, "her new form."

"So I imagine," Stark said, sitting in the chair opposite again. "Loki -"

"Don't," Loki immediately cut him off. "Not . . . not now." _Not yet._

"How do you know what I was going to say?" Stark demanded, sounding irritated.

"I always know what you're going to say. You humans radiate your intentions like a transmitter tower."

Stark made a vexed sound. "Fine, I won't ask you about it yet. But I will, Loki. And don't think you can keep me at bay forever. There are some things I want to know."

"I know," Loki said softly, mostly to himself.

"Tell me one thing."

"Just the one?"

"For now."

"Very well."

"Do you really want me here?"

Blinking, Loki lifted his eyes to meet dark brown. Like rich chocolate. Warm, open, inviting. For several seconds, he couldn't speak, wrestling with emotions he didn't want to feel. Then, just as Stark started to look hurt, Loki closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"Yes."

It was little more than a whisper. A breath riding an intention. He heard Stark get up, then warm hands were on his thighs.

"Let me make love to you."

That startled a soft snort of amusement from Loki's throat as he looked down at Stark, who had knelt in front of his chair. "Alas for your libido, I don't think my body is up to that just yet." He lightly cupped Stark's chin in his fingers. "As soon as I am strong enough, I'm all yours."

Stark grabbed his hand and kissed each one of his fingers. "I can't figure you out right now. You're being so sweet, but you're also being cold. Won't you tell me what's wrong? I want to help."

Loki pulled his hand free. "You can't." Then, because that wasn't true, "Just being here is helping a little, though."

"Only a little?" Stark demanded with a ridiculously wounded expression.

Loki smirked. "All right, more than a little."

"That's better," Stark said, leaning up to fuse their mouths together.

After a split second of hesitation, Loki relaxed and allowed it. He even opened his mouth before Stark's tongue started demanding entrance. Stark never _asked_ for it, he always demanded it. One of many things that made it difficult for Loki to resist this man. At Stark's insistence, he opened his mouth wider, and Stark's tongue delved deeper, tangling around his own. A soft intake of breath when Stark's teeth nipped at his tongue and lips. The kiss went on until Loki felt lightheaded, then he finally broke the kiss and turned his head to the side.

Stark nibbled along his jaw. "I love you, you know."

"Yes, you overly sentimental fool. You've made that inescapably clear." But he was smiling and couldn't help it.

When Stark saw it, he smiled too. "But I'm your fool."

Reaching down, Loki ran his fingers through Stark's dark brown hair. "Since I can't seem to get rid of you, I suppose that does make you mine."

Oh, the look on his face. Worse than any of the sappy, saccharine, sentimental looks he'd ever seen on Thor's face. For his words he received another kiss, this one with more teeth than the first, more eating. He tolerated the rudeness of it until he ran out of breath, then he bit Stark's lower lip. The man chuckled as he pulled away, expression anything but contrite.

"Sorry, babe. But I can't help myself. I haven't seen you in five months."

Loki eased himself out of the chair. "It's been just barely over four," he corrected with a smirk. "And now that you're here, I've thought of a use for you."

"Oh good," Stark said, getting to his feet with liquid, noticeable ease. "I wouldn't want to be useless."

"No," Loki said, smiling to himself as he headed for the small kitchen and opened a small box full of herbs that he steeped for a wonderful, aromatic tea. "You really wouldn't."

Arms snaked around his waist and a chin landed on his shoulder. "Got anything stronger than that?"

"No," Loki said again, "but I'm certain Aether could brew you a little something. She learns very, very quickly."

"Are you assuming I know how to make moonshine?"

"No, Anthony, I'm not assuming."

Stark chuckled. "All right, all right. I'll teach our little girl a thing or two."

Loki's hands paused as he looked at the man. "Our little girl?"

The man grinned. "Always thought I wanted to have a kid or two someday. Just didn't quite foresee something like this."

Snorting, Loki went back to his tea. "I'm a little surprised you're so easily accepting it."

"What? Her new form?"

"Partially. But you realize she's free, don't you? Before, she was bound in a crystal. Now she's free. All of her. I cannot control her actions."

Stark frowned. "What are you saying?"

Smiling, Loki pressed a light kiss to his jaw. "Aether is hardly a little girl."

The man released him, but he didn't move more than a step to the side. "So, we have the most destructive force in all the Nine Realms just . . . wandering free?"

"Essentially," Loki replied, in a sudden good humor to hear the anxiety and exasperation in Stark's voice. "By the way, you will not endear yourself to me with your absurd Midgardian nicknames."

Though Stark was obviously thrown by the abrupt topic change, he recovered with a smirk. "What? Don't like me calling you _babe_?" He nuzzled Loki's ear.

"No," Loki replied, moving a few centimeters to place himself just out of reach and giving Stark a look of warning, "I do not."

That received no acknowledgement of understanding, but then again, why was he bothering? This time when Stark tried to kiss him, he denied the man.

Then Stark threw him off with an unexpected question. "Is Thanos dead?"

His body tensed minutely. For a second, he considered lying. There was no benefit in lying, so he sighed and answered with truth. "I don't know, but I doubt it."

Warm, surprisingly strong hands closed around his upper arms and squeezed with enough force Loki winced. "Will he come after you?"

"I doubt it," Loki said, grateful for the grounding touch, even if it hurt. "He achieved what he sought, even if in a very different way. Aether has been watching for him in case he had vengeance on the mind, but I don't believe he will."

Stark pressed himself to Loki's back, making a rueful sound. "Can't believe he's still alive. After all that, he didn't fucking die."

Loki felt like his skin turned to ice. "I was still protecting him."

A startled silence. "What?"

He twisted in Stark's arms, suddenly desperate to be free. To be alone. "I thought you went to help Aether," he snapped.

For once, the clingy human let go and moved away. "Yeah," he said softly after a moment. "Yeah, I was." He turned as if to go. Then, "I'm sorry, Loki."

The compassion, the sympathy (_pity_) in his rich brown eyes made Loki feel ill. "Don't be," he spat, turning his back to the man.

After another handful of silent seconds, Stark finally left. Loki braced his hands on the wood countertop. It had taken the Aether hours and hours of work to smooth it down to her liking. His eyes squeezed shut.

_This is why I didn't want you here. You ask questions. She does not._ Most of the time, he and the Aether never spoke, content in the silence. But not Stark. No. He was a damn human, and humans liked to discuss things. Work through them with their voices.

That was the absolute _last_ thing Loki wanted. He never wanted to think about what had happened there in Midgard ever again.


	3. Third Installment

**A/N:** I'm glad no one minds my angst, lol. I should have labeled this H/C. I'm listening to "Battle Scars" by Lupe Fiasco.

* * *

**Third Installment: Best Left Unsaid**

"Have you thought about naming yourself?"

She looked up from her careful picking of the bell-shaped flowers that grew up the trunks of trees. _"Naming myself?"_ she repeated, both surprised and confused. _"I'm the Aether. That is my name."_

"Nope. That's what you are. I'm a human, you're the Aether."

Tony Stark was such a strange, unpredictable, wonderful man. She genuinely loved him. She loved him because he loved Loki, and precious little made her beloved happy. He hadn't smiled even once until Stark came to this forest. To their cabin. To their lives. Hopefully to stay, this time. She shrugged, carefully clipping leaves and blossoms off the vine.

_"I've never thought about it. I always had too much to do."_

"Well, now I'm here, princess. That means you've got more time. So. What d'you want me to call you?"

Frowning, she concentrated. She'd never had a name. Never even wanted one. _"I . . . I don't know. What would you name me?"_

He pursed his lips. "That's a good question. Tell you what, let's both think on it. Hm?"

She beamed him a grin. _"Okay!"_

He snorted softly, leaning down and brushing her face with callused fingers. The fingers of a craftsman. An inventor. A warrior. "That's a good girl. Now, tell me what I can do."

Looking around, she considered. _"You could gather wood for kindling. If we're having meat, I need to build a fire in the pit by the pond. We don't cook meat in the cabin. Loki doesn't like the smell."_ She did. She loved all smells, because it was so maddeningly wonderful to be able to smell.

There was only one smell in all existence she didn't like.

"All right-y then. Don't wander off too far now, princess."

She laughed silently. _"I'm ever so much older than you, Tony. I'm older than your entire world."_

He tapped her right on the nose. "I only see a little girl. Now do as I say."

Still laughing, she went back to gathering the bell-shaped flowers. They were a surprisingly rich orange in color, and they had a thick nectar that, when crushed up with the flowers, made a sticky balm that soothed Loki's pain.

"Aether," Tony said after a moment, holding a few thick twigs, "what's it been like for you and him?"

Nibbling at her lower lip, her brow furrowed in thought. _"It's been easy for me. I don't need food, water, sleep, air, or shelter. I don't have any physical needs, so I could be fine anywhere. Top of a mountain, bottom of an ocean."_

There was a hesitation. "And for Loki?"

Her hands fell still into her lap. _"Much harder,"_ she admitted. _"He couldn't even move. He would scream and scream until __his voice died and his throat bled."_ She closed her eyes. _"When I extracted Mad Titan's seiðr from his body . . . his heart stopped. His lungs went silent. I had to breathe for him. For days."  
_

Tony's silence was heavy. When she turned to look up at him, he was staring across the forest with peculiarly vacant eyes. Then he swallowed thickly. "What do you mean by that?"

She picked another flower, movements slow and deliberate. _"I poured energy into him. I made his lungs imitate the action of breathing so oxygen would continue to channel into his blood and his brain. But it was unnatural, so even that hurt him . . ."_ She was not accustomed to feeling pain or grief, but she relished them.

Because in spite of how horrible it had been, she had prevailed. She'd saved her beloved Loki.

He was damaged, but Tony was here now. He could help her.

"Tell me more," Tony commanded softly, still not looking at her. "Tell me what Thanos did to him."

She shook her head. _"I don't know. Loki blocked all of that from me. From the moment he truly regained consciousness, he sealed it tightly away."_

Tony made a vexed sound. "What happened after you purged that asshole's seiðr from Loki?"

Her thoughts wandered back to that time. _"I had hoped he would start to recover his own. But that golden energy inside him . . . I could not purge it. It doesn't belong inside him, but it won't leave. It is poisoning him."_

"Why is that so bad?" Tony asked. "I mean, it's all magic, so why does it matter?"

She gave him a pointed look. _"Does a deer's blood belong in your body?"_

"No," he said with a slightly rueful smile. Then, "Can he still use magic?"

_"Only a very little. And he doesn't say so, but I know it causes him pain when he does. It hurts him to channel that gold energy."_ She felt heat rise behind her eyes. _"I hate it. I would destroy it if I could. I would tear it out of him and crush it between my hands until it screamed and writhed and died!"_

o0o

It was sheer force of will that kept Tony from recoiling from the Aether as her eyes went black. No more whites, irises, or pupils. Just liquid black, a glowing light that reflected none back. _Okay, best to remember she really ain't a little girl._ "I'd help," he muttered.

The black settled as she flashed him a grin best described as cheeky. _"I'd let you."_

He snorted. "What do you mean when you say he's damaged?"

She shook her head. _"Inside. He's . . . damaged."_

"But what do you mean?"

She gave him a look best described as helpless. _"It's as if . . . as if something's missing. Mad Titan damaged him. More than his body. His mind. What used to make him . . . himself. It's damaged."_ She spread her hands and shrugged, looking for all the world like a lost child.

Tony remembered something Thor had said. Months ago. Something Hel had told him. That Loki may never use magic again. He felt a shudder run up his spine and wondered if that was the reason his lover couldn't regenerate his . . . Seiðr. The word felt foreign in his mind and on his tongue.

"Tell me more."

She shrugged again. _"After I extracted Mad Titan's filth, I removed the crystal rod. The wound didn't heal for a month. And the wounds on his body, it took them a month or longer to heal, too. I built that cabin during the times Loki wasn't delirious or entire body writhing in pa—"_

"Aether."

Tony jumped to hear Loki's voice.

Aether did not, but her eyes swirled more black than red, though it was different than her fury. She looked . . .

Sad.

"I asked you to hunt for us." His voice wasn't hard, but it was frozen. Slivers of ice, carving into flesh softly. Quietly.

"Loki—" Tony began.

Loki silenced him with a look, eyes glacial.

Aether stood up, leaving her basket of flowers where it was. _"I'll be right back,"_ she said. She looked at Tony's hands. _"I'll need more wood than that, Tony."_ In moments, she had disappeared into the dense foliage of the forest.

Tony turned to face Loki. "Don't be mad at her."

"I'm not."

"And don't get mad at me," Tony said, trying not to sound defensive.

Loki met his eyes, his gaze even, betraying nothing. "I should refrain from being angry with you when you pry information you did not receive from me out of another?"

Tony grimaced inwardly. _I'd really rather hoped you never found out . . . _"I didn't pry. We want to help you."

The god held his gaze for long, painful seconds. The more time passed, the more Tony found himself wishing Loki _would_ get mad. That he'd yell or threaten bodily harm. That his eyes would burn with the heat of his rage. That he'd look torn between forgiveness and homicide. Any of that, all of that would be better than this. This expression. Those glassy, empty eyes. That frozen, closed face. The posture that wasn't rigid with anger nor relaxed with the promise of approaching good humor.

This was . . .

This was . . .

Nothing.

Finally, with an abruptness that left Tony feeling slightly sucker-punched, Loki turned away and walked toward the cabin. "She's right," he said. "You will need more wood than that."

Tony almost threw the sticks down on the ground and ran after Loki. He wanted to crush his lover to him, to kiss his frozen mouth until it melted, until Loki was putty in his hands, moaning. Something warned him to stay away from the green-eyed god. Closing his eyes for a second, he swallowed thickly.

Where was his Loki? The charmingly demented god who'd thrown him out of a window? The sarcastic and arrogant god who considered humans so beneath him but tolerated Tony with wicked smirks? The one whose voice was silky and sexy as fucking hell and dangerous as a natural disaster capable of destroying a whole fucking planet? Where was the anger, the pride, the wicked delight, the evil smirk, the smug superiority?

_He's damaged._ Aether's words ran around and around in his head. _Oh, Loki. What did that fucking asshole do to you?_

**o0o**

The Aether came back before Stark did, carrying an enormous deer over her shoulder. The sight was comical, for her body was that of an eight-year-old child. The corpse probably outweighed her by one hundred pounds or more, and she carried it as though it had all the mass of a dead sparrow. Her eyes sought him at once, finding him sitting near the pond with his legs crossed. He smiled as she neared.

"Keep the hide in one piece," he said gently. "I think we'll need another blanket or two for our human visitor."

The Aether seemed unhappy at his words, and after a moment he realized what must have troubled her. _Visitor_. He'd said it without thinking. Without contemplation, he'd relegated the human to visitor, as though he were not staying permanently. _Is that what I unconsciously desire?_ Or was it a conscious desire? After a second, he set it aside for thought later. At the moment, he didn't have the strength to send Stark anywhere, let alone to a sealed place like the Nine Realms.

_"Are you not allowing him to stay with us?"_ the Aether asked the question.

Propping an elbow on his knee, Loki closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "I don't know, dearest. We'll talk about it later."

Small arms wrapped around his neck, cradling his head against a child's body. _"You're tired,"_ she said, _"and weakened by_ _reopening the gate. We don't need to decide anything right now."_

A plea to leave things as they were. He sighed and wrapped one arm around her in a brief embrace. "You ought to start preparing that animal." Then he idly wondered if Stark would even be hungry. He'd deliberately awakened the man in the middle of Earth's night.

The Aether was halfway through butchering her kill when Stark reappeared, carrying a pile of wood cleverly stacked to keep its shape in his arms. Like the Aether, his eyes immediately sought Loki. Though his pace was measured and his expression casual, Loki could see what the man tried to keep out of his eyes. Sadness. Sympathy. Pain for the one he loved and could not help.

It was the absolute _last_ thing Loki wanted to have directed at him. He felt helpless rage bubbling up inside him. That idle pity only reminded the god of his own crippled, damaged state. His complete and utter inability to heal himself. Yes, there was still magic in his veins. Strong, powerful magic. But it was not _his_, so it caused him terrible pain to use it and left him weakened to a debilitating degree.

_If I put his eyes out, would I no longer have to suffer seeing his pity?_ It was a passing thought on the heels of a surprisingly strong compulsion to do just that. But it faded quickly. Stark would still _feel_ it, so it would change nothing.

His mind screamed, _I don't want you here,_ even as his body leaned toward Stark when the human set his bundle down and sat beside Loki. The movement was so obvious it prompted Stark to wrap an around around his shoulders and position himself so Loki could rest fully against his chest. He buried his nose in Loki's hair.

"Do you forgive me?" he whispered.

In spite of himself, Loki snorted softly. "No."

There was no conviction in his voice. He turned his face into Stark's neck and softly inhaled his scent. It was mild but masculine, a warm undertone beneath the pine-scented soap he used. Pleasant. Soothing. He sucked in a faint breath at the love pouring off Stark in palpable waves. This idiot wanted so desperately to help the one he even more desperately loved.

Truly, no one had ever so effectively disarmed the god of mischief. He closed his eyes, feeling helpless in the face of such naked emotion.

_"I hope you like venison, Tony,"_ the Aether piped up.

"You betcha, princess," Stark replied. "You need any help with that?"

"You know how to butcher animals for consumption?" Loki murmured.

The arm around his shoulder squeezed as if in warning. "Of course I do. Whaddaya think I am, some sort of helpless rich guy's kid who can't even dress himself?"

"You can't," Loki said, smiling in genuine mirth. "Your AI always dresses you."

"Hey, Jarvis only puts my Iron Man suits on. I do the rest myself."

_"I don't need help,"_ the Aether said. _"You should just stay where you are."_

As soon as she said it, Loki felt irritation flare. He forced it to subside. He would not allow his emotions to just run rampant all over the place.

But Stark surprised him, "Nah, I can't do nothing while a little kid works. Too much of a gentleman."

Loki straightened to allow Stark to move to her side. When the Aether handed him a knife, he wielded it with skill and competence.

"This is a pretty nice spot," the man said, idly looking around. "Where do you get your water from?"

_"There's a stream,"_ the Aether said, pointing west, _"that runs right down out of the mountains. I get it from there."_

"Hm. And you just eat vegetables from your garden most times?"

_"That and eggs. There are these wild birds, I harvest their unfertilized eggs. Loki calls them grouse."_

"They are every bit as edible as the domesticated chickens humans raise," Loki commented, watching with half-lidded eyes.

_"And I hunt every so often,"_ the Aether continued, beaming Loki a smile, _"but not often. Loki doesn't like meat much."_

"What?" Stark exclaimed, giving him a wide-eyed look of incredulity. "You're from Asgard. I thought all Asgardian warriors loved meat!"

Loki smirked faintly at his lover. "The operative word in that sentence was _warrior_. I am a mage."

"Oh come on," Stark said with a little frown. "You're one of the most badass warriors I have ever met. You just fight with magic, not swords."

For some reason, those words poured down into Loki's soul like balm. His smile was mellow and . . . "You needn't preface your statement with _one of the most_, Anthony."

And Stark's grin was just a little bit wicked. "You're right. The most badass. Period."

Loki chuckled softly, picking up the clay tea mug he'd set aside earlier. The liquid's flavor was dark and bitter, but it helped with the pain.

The two of them continued with easy, comfortable dialogue. While they included Loki with their body language, neither spoke to him directly but seldom. A peace he had not felt since coming here pervaded Loki's being. This was what he needed. A quiet atmosphere where they both went about things normally.

Perhaps bringing Stark here would work, after all.

**o0o**

By sundown, Tony had enjoyed a tasty meal and had a deer hide on its way to tanning. Some of the shock of all this had settled, and he realized how exhausted he was. Aether was the first to stir. Rising, she moved to Loki's side and hugged him.

_"I'll be back in the morning with more water,"_ she said. With a grin to Tony, _"Good night. I'm glad you're here."_

He returned her smile. "Me too, princess."

When she was gone, Tony watched Loki in silence for long moments. His lover hadn't said a word in probably over an hour, but he looked relatively peaceful. And very, very tired. Clapping his hands on his thighs, he pushed himself upright.

"Dunno about you, but I'm beat."

Loki glanced up at him, eyes mellow. "The bed isn't large," he said, voice quiet and content-sounding, "but there's plenty of room on the floor."

Chuckling, Tony grabbed Loki's arms and gently hauled him up. "Like hell. I'm gonna sleep wrapped around you, babe."

Loki's lips twitched in obvious displeasure, but he said nothing about the endearment. The bedroom was a tiny affair with a bed. An actual mattress on a wooden frame. Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Tony decided to ask Aether about it tomorrow. Right now, he wanted sleep. He pulled his shirt off, kicked off his boots, and flopped down. He made sure to take up a lot of room, so Loki would have no choice but to curl up to him.

With nothing more than a look of what Tony could best describe as annoyed amusement, Loki toed off his own boots and removed the beautiful leather tunic. He didn't take off his shirt, though. With deliberate movements, he climbed over Tony to lay down between him and the wall. He let his head come to rest on Tony's shoulder, draping an arm across his waist.

His fingers trailed over Tony's chest. "I have your Arc reactor, still. Would you be able to use it as a power source for other technology?"

Tony blinked. "You still have it? How the hell? I thought it was back home somewhere!"

"It was and still is in my Astral pocket," Loki explained in patient tones.

"But . . ."

The god let out a soft chuckle. "I thought I explained it wasn't a _place_. I can access it from anywhere. Anywhere at all."

"Fuck. I'm not even going to pretend I understand. Okay. Sure, I could use it for a power source for just about anything. Why'd you keep it?"

A pause. "I'm not sure. It seemed wrong to discard something so . . . ingenious."

Tony kissed his forehead. "You bet your sweet ass it would have been wrong. Probably my best invention. Ever."

"Hm," Loki hummed. "We'll talk more about it in the morning."

"Sounds good," Tony murmured, already dozing off. He shifted just a little to pull Loki more fully into his arms.

And for the first time in four months, he fell into peaceful sleep.


	4. Fourth Installment

**Fourth Installment: The City**

Never let it be said that Tony Stark wasn't smart. He was the smartest human he knew, and in all the Nine Realms he'd only met one person he considered smarter than himself. There were a few people he thought might be _as_ clever as himself, but not _more_.

So when he woke in the morning, his mind immediately started working. Just like it always did when he fell asleep with a problem.

First, he took stock of the things he now knew. One. He could tell by Loki's body language all yesterday his lover wasn't completely sure how to feel about having Tony around. Two. Aether wanted him to stay. Three. Loki's ability to process and/or feel emotions seemed to have been damaged. Four. His body was far from recovered from his ordeal.

But most importantly, Loki had completely relaxed when Tony acted as though nothing at all was wrong.

_He needs me to be normal. To show no concern, to express no sympathy or worry._ That would be difficult but not impossible. He didn't think it was pride that kept Loki needing the normalcy. Not quite. Tony wasn't fully sure yet, but he would figure it out.

Finally, he opened his eyes and came completely awake. The cabin's surprisingly well-built ceiling greeted his eyes with earthen brown. Taking a deep breath, he felt surprising resistance. Weight on his chest. He immediately smiled. Loki had shifted in his sleep. He was no longer lying beside Tony on the narrow-ish bed.

He was lying on top of Tony, his narrow hips wedged between Tony's thighs, sprawled belly-down on Tony's chest. He could feel the buff of each warm breath over his skin that Loki took, and a glance down showed him that his lover was deeply asleep.

Deliberately, he took long and deep breaths just to feel Loki there. It was uncomfortable but blessedly welcome.

The tiny bedroom's door opened, and Aether walked in. _"Tony? Would you like eggs for breakfast?"_

Tony glanced pointedly downward, not wanting to disturb his sleeping lover.

She gave him a small grin. _"He won't wake. It really tires him to use magic."_

Though he felt a bolt of concern, Aether seemed unworried so Tony tried to relax. "Yeah. Eggs sound good. Thanks, princess."

She beamed him a smile as she left, and true to her word Loki didn't stir. Idly, Tony ran his hands up Loki's arms and thought about what his lover had said yesterday. _He thought of a use for me. I wonder what he meant by that. Whatever he wants me to do, I'll just have to make sure it takes a LONG time. That will give me plenty of opportunities to convince him he wants me to stay._

Tony Stark could be very, very persuasive.

**o0o**

_A blade would have been better._

_The feel of a blade along flesh is painful, but it is natural. Skin and muscle being torn and causing a pain reaction in the brain, warning the body it needs to do something different to avoid more damage. Pain is comforting, in its way._

_This . . ._

_This is . . ._

_It has reached inside him. It has poured down his throat. Torn open his pores. Invaded his being through every part of him. Left him open. Ragged. Raw. He can't even scream, for it has robbed the very breath from his lungs. He can only stare, wide and unseeing, as he is filled with fire worse than poison. It beats down his defenses. Leaves him completely vulnerable._

_It is INSIDE him. Inside him, in a place it has no business being, tearing into him, feeding off him, bleeding him dry. He can smell his own blood. Feel it seeping out of him. No, he thinks distantly. Very, very distantly. Not blood._

_Seiðr._

_You are mine. You are mine. Singing around and around in his head._

_He is choking on it. He cannot breathe._

_You are mine. You will obey me._

_"They are interfering. Destroy them, Loki."_

_Destroy them._

_Destroy them._

_Eyes the color of an Asgardian summer, and he is meant to destroy them._

_Something his entire being protests._

_But his body obeys._

o0o

Tony felt a pulse of nauseating fear when Loki's entire body suddenly tensed up and started shaking wildly as if he was having a seizure. Without thinking, he locked his arms and legs around his lover to hold him steady and put his mouth right by Loki's ear.

"Wake up, Loki," he whispered. "C'mon, babe. Show me those pretty green eyes. Wake up. Nothing bad's happening. It's just a dream. You're with me. C'mon, wake up."

As quick as it started, it abruptly stopped. Loki's skin went from much too warm to freezing cold in the blink of an eye, and the shaking stopped. The god made a quiet sound of definite irritation.

"Are you trying to smother me, Stark?"

Unable to help it, Tony chuckled and kissed his forehead. "What can I say? I'm a cuddly guy, and I haven't seen you in four months. Sue me if I want to snuggle my lover."

For a few seconds, Loki was very still. Perhaps trying to figure out why Tony wasn't mentioning the nightmare. Was that what it was?

Then he snorted softly, slowly sitting up. He looked pale and tired. Tony sat up, too.

"You got a shower or bath or something?" he asked, stretching.

A glance down showed Loki watching him, something strange in his verdant eyes. Then he blinked and it was gone.

"No," the god replied. "Aether brings water from the river, but she has no concept of how indoor plumbing works."

"Sponge bath it is. Want me to wash you, too?" He grinned.

Loki looked away, expression cold. "No. Go help Aether if you want to be useful."

Tony tried not to sigh. These strange mood swings would take some getting used to. Something was definitely wrong, this wasn't like his lover at all. _No matter how much time it takes, I will get to the bottom of this, Loki._

"I love you," he said.

Like melting ice, the cold bled out of Loki's eyes and he rose. Half a step had him next to Tony, and he slid his arms around the human's waist, resting his head on the man's shoulder.

"So you've said. Sentimental fool."

Practically giddy, Tony wrapped his arms around him. "Hey, did I tell you Jane's pregnant?"

Silence for a moment. Then, "Is she? I'm sure her idiot husband is over the moon."

The affection in his voice made Tony grin. "Guess that means it's our turn next, huh?"

Loki pushed him away, but Tony's anxiety vanished when he saw the look on Loki's face. The god was smirking, looking torn between amusement and murder.

_There he is,_ the thought flitted through Tony's head. _That's my Loki._

"What exactly do you mean by that, Stark? Surely you aren't suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

Tony gave him a cheeky grin. "It just sorta slipped out. I wasn't suggesting anything. I might get castrated if I suggested anything."

The amusement definitely seemed to be winning over murder. "Yes . . . living out the rest of your days as a eunuch wouldn't diminish your quality of life."

"Like hell it wouldn't!" Tony protested. "To never want sex again? I don't even want to imagine what that would make me!"

Loki gave him the faintest grin before it faded and he sat on the edge of the bed. "See the chest in the corner? My Astral pocket's key is in it. Bring it to me, and I'll get you a change of clothes. What you're wearing isn't practical."

Considering Tony was only wearing jeans . . . Trotting to the chest, which was well made and quite beautiful, Tony opened it. It was filled with simple but elegant leather and linen clothing, and sitting right on top was that strange amulet-key thing. Scooping it up, Tony brought it to his lover.

Loki opened up thin air and extracted more clothing. Soft suede breeches. Knee-high boots of flexible, buffed leather. Linen shirts of several earthy colors. And dark brown and black leather tunics similar to the one Loki wore but slightly different styles.

Plenty happy to blend with the natives (he smirked in his head), Tony shucked his jeans.

Loki snorted. "No underwear, Stark?"

"I like to be ready," Tony said, unapologetic and unashamed. He winked. "For anything."

Loki rolled his eyes, and to Tony's surprise he laid back down. "I should have guessed."

Tony tried not to be disappointed that Loki didn't want to watch him be naked. The clothing was comfortable and fit perfectly. "Hey, don't fall asleep just yet. You said you'd thought of a use for me. I'm dying of curiosity."

"I hardly think so," Loki said, eyes closed. But he smiled softly. "We'll talk when you and Aether get back."

And that seemed to be that. Sighing, Tony moved to the bed and leaned down to steal a kiss. Delightfully, Loki allowed it.

Aether was right outside, sitting in the grass with a pile of leaves. She seemed to be trimming the edges off them, so Tony went to see what she was doing. She had a basket of eggs on one side of her and a basket of berries on the other. She grinned up at him.

_"You look good in that."_

"Why thank you, princess. Glad someone around here appreciates my sexiness."

Her grin widened. _"I've seen you naked."_

He snorted. "So you have more reason than most to appreciate it."

She laughed. It was still weird to hear nothing but know she was laughing all the same.

_"I've been thinking about a name for myself, and you're right. I don't want to be called Aether forever. I really like the name Skaði. What do you think?"_

"Skaði, huh? That sounds very Viking."

She giggled. _"It is. I think it suits me. Don't you?"_

It did. "Sure does, princess. How'd you pick it?"

_"Mm, it's hard to explain. I have some residual knowledge of old history from when I was inside Loki."_

"Well all right then, Skaði. You have any coffee around this dump?"

She laughed, tipping her head back in the process, which caused the wan morning sun to glint off her frost blue-white hair. _"It's not a dump! I worked very hard on it. I think it's cute!"_

"It's very cute. Coffee?"

_"No, no coffee. There is a city, that way."_ She pointed east. _"It's pretty big."_

"A city?" Tony repeated, perking up. "How far?"

_"Let's see. I think it's about . . . fifty leagues."_

Tony winced. That was over one-hundred and seventy miles. "How big is this forest?"

_"Very big. To the west are the mountains, and it's a chain that goes on for over two-thousand leagues. The forest itself goes all the way to the ocean to the north. Loki told me there isn't a lot of civilization on this planet. I think most of it is mountain, ocean, and arctic wasteland. It's not nearly as hospitable as Midgard. It was part of the reason I chose it."_

"And I take it you and Loki have never been there?"

_"No. He's never been well enough to travel that far. We would either have to walk or he would have to use magic."_

"Well then, it's a good thing I brought my suit." A flight of one-hundred and seventy miles would take twenty minutes. "I think I should go check it out."

She sighed. _"I wish I could come with you. But I won't leave him, and I doubt he'd let you carry him."_ She giggled as if just the thought was funny.

Which it was. Tony wondered if he could convince his lover. "Whatcha doin' with those leaves, anyway?"

Lifting one by its stem, she pointed to tiny little prickles with her wooden shears. _"These nettles will cause a nasty reaction on skin. I'm cutting them off, because the leaves can be brewed into a fragrant tea which helps with pain."_

No more explanation was necessary, and Tony felt himself grimace. "I'm gonna go check out that city. You need anything before I go?"

_"You could build me a fire. In the hearth. There's wood inside. I'll cook us eggs."_

Tony did so, then went into the small bedroom. Loki was asleep again, sprawled gracefully over the bed. _He's so beautiful. So goddamn beautiful._ Sighing quietly, Tony leaned down and kissed both closed eyelids. Loki made a soft sound but didn't wake.

Grabbing his magicked suit amulet, Tony trotted back outside and put it over his neck. A second later he was wearing his suit.

"Take care of him, princess."

_"I will, Tony!" _she called, waving as he took to the skies.

As soon as he cleared the canopy, Tony gazed around in open wonder. Skaði (not Aether, he told himself firmly) was right. The forest was absolutely enormous. Trees as far as the eye could see. Here and there he could spot narrow gashes in the green where the rivers must run, and it was quite beautiful. He could see small birds and butterflies everywhere, and in a few spots there were vast swathes of grayish gauze that could only be spider webs.

It was comforting to know that a world so far from Earth wasn't so very different from it.

Skaði was almost dead on with the distance. JARVIS informed him he'd traveled 50.3 leagues when he saw the city.

It definitely wasn't what he'd been expecting. Though what he'd been expecting he wasn't quite sure. A medieval type city with stone walls and wood buildings and cobblestone streets and courtyards? The city below him looked like an enormous industrial hub, the buildings made of a shiny metal and the streets paved with something that appeared similar to concrete.

There were vehicles going up and down them, not powered by anything Tony recognized: big glowing orbs of sky blue. Magic? Probably. They almost looked like carriages, the vehicles, being towed by those orbs.

"JARVIS?" he inquired. "Any ideas on that power source?"

"Scanning sir," the AI said. "It appears to be pure energy, though I've never detected anything like it. It doesn't appear to be magic."

"Huh," Tony mused.

The men were all wearing nice slacks and shirts with lace and ruffled scarves, topped off with perfectly tailored vests. The women wore either dresses that reminded Tony of Victorian England or half-breeches with their own versions of lacy shirts and vests.

And most of them had some tiny little device over one ear that was obviously powered by the same glowing blue stuff as the vehicles. _Bet anything those are this world's version of a Bluetooth._ Curious and excited, Tony landed out of sight and put the suit away, tucking the amulet beneath his shirt. His clothing was a bit different from the people here, but not so much he should overtly stand out.

Stepping onto the streets, he immediately blended into the fast-moving crowds. No one gave him second glances for his clothing, but he did notice quite a few women give his face second looks. To them he winked, and most of them looked away with blushes and smiles.

_Yep, still got it._

The thought crossed his mind, _I wish I could make Loki blush._

It made him smirk. That'd be the day.

The shops all had nicely painted signs, but Tony couldn't read any of them. Further confounding him, he couldn't understand the language the people spoke. They looked perfectly human, near as he could tell, but they may as well have been speaking gibberish.

_Damn. I was hoping I'd be able to learn about the local currency._ Skaði's woodworking skills were useful, but there were some jobs that could only be done by metal. Still, he walked around and tried to get a feel for the layout of the place. The streets seemed to follow a basic grid, and it was easy enough to tell by what was in the shops what they sold. He frowned to himself.

_I wonder if Loki will be able to understand them? It's strange that everyone I met in the Nine Realms spoke English, but damn it was useful._ Deciding he had nothing to lose, he stopped a cute woman in a cream-colored shirt.

"Can you understand me?" he asked hopefully.

She blushed, looking quite flustered, and said something he didn't understand.

Trying not to feel disappointed, he let go of her arm. "Sorry, darlin'."

She giggled as she hurried off.

_Well, shit. A lot of these shops seem to have really useful stuff, and I'd LOVE to get my hands on one of those blue orb thingies._ He stepped out of sight and put his suit back on.

"JARVIS, if you scan all the signs with writing on them, any chance you could write translation software?"

"Very possibly, sir," JARVIS confirmed, "but the energy requirements would be quite high. Right now, I have enough power for basic functions and can run off that for at least two years. Performing any special feats would be draining."

"Great. Now I _really_ want one of those blue orbs."

"Based off the readings, I would deduce they are a form of power," JARVIS agreed.

"Thanks, Sherlock," Tony said, taking to the skies. "Go ahead and scan everything with writing and save them for later perusal. Maybe Loki can help with the translation."

"Yes, sir. Loki would still need to have some interfacing device so I could display the writings for him."

"He's the most clever, resourceful bastard I have ever met. Chances are he's got something in that handy little Astral pocket of his."

"Yes, sir. Commencing scans."

Tony flew over the city as slowly as JARVIS needed, not particularly concerned about being seen. It took about half an hour to record the writings of ten city blocks, then Tony decided he'd had enough for one day. Time to return to the place that didn't exactly feel like _home_, but something startlingly close.


	5. Fifth Installment

**Fifth Installment: Usefulness**

Loki woke slowly, entire body feeling sluggish and unresponsive. It cried out for him to simply go back to sleep, but he resisted. There were things that needed doing, and most pressingly a conversation that needed to be had. And the nightmares that plagued his sleep were disorienting, to say the least.

In fact, he thought with a rueful smile, he'd only awakened from one without it taking him a long time to realize he wasn't still Thanos' prisoner. _Whether my mind agrees or not, Stark, my body is certainly comfortable around you._

Climbing off the bed, he shrugged out of his green linen shirt. He actually had to steel himself to look down at his arms and torso, so jarring was it to see the evidence of what had been done to him. The wounds had healed and there were no physical scars, but the lines of gold energy where the wounds had been . . .

If he looked too long, he almost felt panic.

And then it was replaced by rage.

And then it was all swept away by an exhaustion so profound he felt nothing at all.

His entire body cried out at the wrongness of it. All of it. He honestly had no idea if he hoped Thanos was dead or still alive somewhere so he could kill the Mad Titan properly.

Slowly, carefully, he tapped into the golden energy trapped inside him like he would his own seiðr. Its pale light misted around his hands, making his skin tingle with heat. It felt wrong. So wrong. And as soon as he touched it, everything instantly changed.

The solidity of the world vanishes into a tapestry of colors. Things are no longer separate from each other, just blending together in a nauseating swirl. The colors taste like heat, cold, earth, and loam. Sounds pour across his skin like needles. Knives. Fingers of ice and lava.

Alive. He hopes that one is still alive. Because then he can kill him. Kill him and taste the red, hear the screams that cut like daggers and feel the breath of him dying.

And then maybe he will know peace. Maybe his helpless rage will finally have an outlet, he can purge the horrible, terrible memories from his mind and have a closure he doesn't remember needing.

But he does.

He needs gold to vanish in a cascade of green.

Like blue vanished in a cascade of black.

But he needs green.

Green. Loki. Green. Loki.

_No. Stop._

With a sound that tore from the back of his throat in a ragged groan, Loki tossed his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. The gold mist dissipated, but the sound of his heart felt like poison. The smell of the air tasted like death.

_This is not what I fought for. I didn't survive the worst torture of my entire life to become this._

This pathetic, weak, damaged shell. Fragmented in places that weren't supposed to break. His breathing accelerated and his heart hurt him.

No. It was better not to feel. As suddenly as it had come, it all flowed out. To be replaced by nothing. Refusing to look at his body again, he pulled on a tunic the Aether had made. It was tawny deer hide, tanned perfectly and very soft to the touch. It fell to mid-thigh, belted at the waist in leather. It was sleeveless, but the feel of anything else would be unbearable.

He padded barefoot out of the little bedroom. Only a few things had not been perverted by Thanos' inventive torture, and one of them was his ability to sense any and all life around him. He could tell Stark was outside with the Aether. Crossing the wood floors, he opened the front door and moved across the porch, leaning against the railing.

Neither his lover nor his beloved failed to take notice of him, and the Aether broke into a bright smile. Truly, her new form was a miracle of the most incredible proportions. An essence of destruction, born out of nothingness, becoming sentient? With its own desires and goals? Taking a _form_?

Strictly speaking, he thought with an inward smile, Jane Foster was comparable to her father and Loki her mother. Jane had provided the spark, and the spark had grown inside Loki.

Her form was pleasing. Something about her face almost reminded him of the lovely Miss Foster. The shape and the color of her skin, just a little bit.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Stark said with his usual grin of lustful appreciation. "I've had a busy morning. Went to the city."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "The city? You have had a busy morning. You should have saved your suit's power."

Stark frowned a little. "What makes you say that?"

Feeling his disturbing mood lightening, Loki gave him a patient look. "You couldn't read the signs or understand the language. Am I correct?"

"Well, no . . ."

"I could have told you that. So you should have saved your suit's power."

"Well, I didn't want to wake you to ask," Stark grumbled. "And besides, I got a good view of the city's layout. And I had JARVIS scan all the writings in a ten-block radius. Any chance you could magically translate the language for me?"

"Of course."

Stark blinked. "You didn't even look at it."

"I don't need to, Stark," Loki said, enjoying the feeling of surprising his lover. It never got old. "I can understand any language, written or spoken."

The human stared at him for several long moments. Then he shook his head and started chuckling. "Of course you can. Smug bastard. Skaði, don't be like your dad when you grow up."

The Aether gave him a peculiar look. _"If you want to assign parentage, Loki is technically my mother. But I love him far too much to see him that way. He is so much more."_ Her red-black eyes oriented on Loki, the heat of her emotions blazing in them. _"So much more."_

The smile that eased across Loki's lips was small but genuine. "I feel the same, dearest." A slight pause. "And Skaði suits you. Do you know what it means?"

She shook her head. _"I only liked the sound of it."_

"It is the old Norse word for 'damage'," Loki explained. "Not a noun, but as in the action 'to damage'." His smile deepened. "It is apropos."

"Wait, how exactly is Loki technically your _mother_?" Stark demanded.

Mellow amusement filled Loki's aching heart, and his senses seemed to settle a bit.

The Aether also looked amused. _"It's quite simple, Tony. Jane Foster caused a spark when she touched me for the first time. Loki thinks it's because humans live short lives, so they live all the more fiercely for it. But Loki found the spark and took it into himself, nurturing it. I grew inside him until I formed my own consciousness."_

Stark's lips quirked, suspiciously close to a grin. "So Jane provided the sperm."

"If you must be so crude," Loki said, his own smile still faintly present.

"Well, don't tell Thor you had a baby with his lady. It would break his heart."

The words startled a huff of laughter from Loki.

"And by the way," the man said, poking the Aether in the shoulder, "that isn't simple. It's stupidly complicated. But that's something I've come to accept about Loki. Sometimes, I just have to smile and nod."

"You do so quite often," Loki mused.

"Hey, pipe down in the peanut gallery. And come over here already. How am I supposed to kiss you from there?"

_"I made tea,"_ the Aether said, hopping up. _"I'll bring you some, Loki."_

Loki smiled his thanks.

"How come she gets cute pet names?" Stark demanded.

Loki made his way to Stark's side and sat down. "Perhaps because she is cute?"

"Hey, I'm cute too. Damn cute, in fact. You've seen me naked. How can you not think I'm cute?"

Loki idly wondered why Stark wasn't commenting on the visible gold lines in his skin. Without thought, he leaned toward his lover and rested his head on a broad shoulder.

"Cute is not the word I would use."

He could feel Stark's burst of pleasure. "Sexy, then." Decisive.

A soft snort. "If you like."

"I do like. I like very much. And I like it when you're all sweet and amenable." So saying, he cupped Loki's chin and tilted his head back to kiss him.

The moment their lips touched, Loki's eyes widened in surprise. A split second later they fluttered shut. The disorienting confusion of the senses vanished. The relief was so powerful he wanted to weep. Instead he indulged Stark's insatiable appetite and melted into the kiss, opening his mouth for Stark to plunder.

The man immediately plunged his tongue inside, curling around Loki's and stroking up. His teeth nibbled and nipped, his arms going and around Loki and leaning him back until he was all but laying in Stark's arms. He didn't move and didn't try to take control, the man's heat seeping into him. He barely even responded to the kiss, simply enjoying the ministrations.

Stark chuckled through his nose, pulling back to nibble on Loki's lower lip. "You're being awfully docile right now. Makes me wanna bite you all over."

Loki smirked and tipped his chin back so Stark was now nibbling at his jaw and throat. "Please don't. I have enough marks on my skin."

"Yeah, but I didn't leave them," Stark argued, ever-so-gently biting at Loki's pulse.

Loki tilted his head back farther to give him better access. "True . . ."

"Fuck you're being so sweet right now," Stark groaned, tangling his fingers in Loki's hair and pushing his head back up to fuse their mouths together again. "I love you," he whispered into the kiss. "You're stuck with me, so get used to the idea."

Of all the immortals who had kissed Loki, he mused dimly, none of them had kissed like this. This eating, consuming, devouring kiss that involved lips, tongue, and teeth. Quite a lot of teeth, really. A nipping sting of slight pain, a nibbling pleasure that made him shudder.

Nor had he ever had a lover who skillfully took control and seemed to enjoy giving pleasure far more than receiving it. Well, he amended with an internal smile, at least as much as receiving it.

Stark finally pulled back, and a smile immediately crossed his face. "You look like a goddess just receiving your due."

Minorly irritated, Loki reached up and brushed dark hair out of Stark's eyes. It was longer than four months ago. It gave him a rakish look. "Must you emasculate me?"

Stark's chocolate brown eyes roved all over his face. "It's not that. You don't look like a woman. You're just so much more beautiful than some dumb man."

Loki smiled, stroking his fingers down Stark's jaw. With a small measure of regret, he sat upright. Stark didn't try to stop him. "Do you have enough knowledge of engineering to build an entire ship?"

Stark blinked. "Ship? As in, a spaceship?"

"Yes."

A long pause. "Maybe. Probably. If I had the right tools and materials. And a decent lab where I could download JARVIS into a computer core again."

Loki studied his face. "The technology in the city. Did you see any visible power sources?"

"One, actually," Stark said, nodding. "These blue orbs. So big." He held his hands the appropriate distance. "Glowing. They were pulling these carriage-like vehicles. And everyone had these little devices on their ear, like a Bluetooth. They had one of those orbs, tiny of course."

Frowning to himself, Loki looked away and stared across the clearing. That sounded like . . . To know for sure, he'd need to see one. There were, however, two problems with that. Loki was too weak to travel such a distance. And Stark had no way of communicating with the residents to procure one.

"What would we need a spaceship for?" Stark demanded abruptly.

Loki faced him again, raising an eyebrow. "I have no desire to convalesce in this forest for the rest of my life. We're in an entirely new part of the universe, Stark. Have you no interest in exploring it?"

The human looked surprised. "That . . . yeah. Hell yeah, I want to explore it. I guess I just never thought about _how_ we would explore it."

Smiling, Loki glanced up to see the Aether returning with two clay mugs of tea. "While you were there, did you happen to notice them exchanging any form of currency?"

"No," Stark said. "I could make a second trip, pay a little more attention?"

Loki shook his head. "No, I'll come with you this time."

Predictably, Stark immediately grinned. "That mean I get to carry you?"

Sighing, exasperated and strangely comforted, Loki shook his head. "Yes, Anthony." Perhaps visiting more of this world would help with his healing.

The Aether handed him one mug of tea and the other to Stark. _"I'd like to see the city, too. I've been curious about it."_

Loki smiled at her. "You've been very patient, dearest."

_"I love you,"_ she said, _"and nothing is more important to me than you being well."_

"I love you for that," Stark piped up, sipping his tea and grimacing. "Damn, this isn't coffee."

The Aether laughed. _"I told you, I don't have any coffee."_

Stark gave her a morose look. "This tastes like dirt."

_"It's nettle tea, so it should taste like leaves,"_ she said in helpful tones.

Loki smiled into his mug. The taste wasn't wonderful, but it soothed the constant pain in his veins. Pain caused by the golden light. Poisoning him, the Aether called it.

Well, that wasn't so far off.


	6. Sixth Installment

This chapter comes with a warning: It's dark.

* * *

**Sixth Installment: The Longest Night**

Skaði didn't like this time. Every nine days, they had to do this. She and Loki. She had to inflict this horrific torture on him. Trying, always trying to heal him. To draw that terrible golden poison out of him. As long as it was inside him, he couldn't regenerate his own seiðr, which meant he could neither use magic nor truly heal.

Well, she amended with a grimace, he used magic at great personal cost. Every time he used that gold light, he felt more damaged.

She hated it. She hated it so much it almost felt like poison. She wished it were a person that she could reach with her hands and destroy. She would tear it apart piece by tiny piece to inflict as much pain as she possibly could.

_"Tony?"_

The human was chopping wood by the pond. The moonlight rippled off his well-muscled arms and chest. He might be slim, but he was very toned and strong. A strength given to him half by Loki, half by herself. The axe thudded into a piece of wood and he looked up.

"What's up, princess?"

She hesitated. She wanted him to be present for this. But Loki did not. _"Loki asked you not to come to the cottage tonight. The weather is fair, so you won't get cold."_ She deposited a couple soft furs near him.

"What?" Tony demanded, wiping sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. "Why not? I won't accept any answer but the whole truth. Otherwise, I'm going where I damn well want."

She almost grinned. _"Every nine days, I try to get that gold light out of him. I can't do it more often than that, because he has to recover each time. It's difficult for him, and he doesn't want you there."_

He reached down for his shirt. "No can do. I'm not going to sit around and twiddle my thumbs while he suffers."

Skaði put a hand on his arm. His skin was warm. _"Please, Tony. You will only make him angry, and it's best when we start if he's perfectly calm. I know you don't understand, and I can't really explain, but he needs you to not be there."_ She hesitated just a moment before adding, _"He can't always control his actions. I think he doesn't want to hurt you."_

That got to him. He dropped his shirt. "God damn it. Fine. But I'm only sitting by this once. You tell him that, princess. Just this _once_."

She smiled. _"I will."_

He winked at her.

Turning, she trotted into the cottage and closed the door. Loki was waiting for her in the bedroom.

"Well? Did he agree?"

_"He did, but he wanted me to tell you he's only going to agree this one time."_

Her beloved sighed. He looked neither annoyed nor surprised nor pleased. He just looked tired. "I rather expected that." He sat in the middle of the bed and crossed his legs. "Go ahead and begin, dearest."

Skaði felt vaguely ill as she obeyed.

It was still a strange thing, even after four months. She channeled part of her own self, as if it were seiðr rather than a piece of her very being. Liquid, black, light, it was bizarre to actually have eyes to see it instead of simply being aware of it. To have the mind even to ponder it. She hoped she never grew accustomed to it, that it always felt this new and wonderful.

She just wished she didn't have to use it like this.

The tendrils of ebony light, thick and reaching, touched Loki's skin and quickly surrounded him in an inky nimbus. The gold lines etched into his skin flared with brilliant light, the heat from them instantly filling the room. Loki's head flung back with a faint, ragged cry. His hands clenched in the bed coverings until the skin of his knuckles turned white, jaw clenching so tightly she could hear his teeth grind.

Trying to keep from screaming.

It wouldn't be long before he stopped trying.

o0o

It had taken the Aether days to draw the Mad Titan's seiðr out of Loki's body. It was one of the worst experiences of his life, rivaled only by Thanos pouring it down into Loki to begin with. Normally that never would have been possible, Loki far too powerful a mage. But his defenses had already been critically weakened because of Yggdrasil's vast energy, so he'd been helpless to stop it.

The damage done to him was threefold. Foreign seiðr flowing through him. His own seiðr completely depleted. _Again_. And the terrible power of all Yggdrasil ravaging every corner of his being. A power far too vast to safely inhabit a single being. Like trying to pour a river into a goblet.

Trying to draw it out, even cut off from the endless Tree, had turned out to be an exercise in futility. Painful, agonizing futility.

The Aether had performed Thanos' own trick to remove the Mad Titan's seiðr. She'd pulled it out of Loki to replace with her own. Then she withdrew her own. Pure torture. However, no matter how many times she'd tried to do this with Yggdrasil's energy, she could only ever pull it out the slightest bit. The harder she tried the more painful it became. The second she stopped, the energy settled right back into its chosen home.

His body's reaction to the ordeal was . . .

It strangled his senses until he couldn't tell anything from anything else. It caused his skin to bleed. His muscles seized, causing his whole body to contort and convulse. He screamed until he started coughing blood. He wept until his eyes bled. It made his veins feel flowing with acid. And the supposedly healed wounds on his body burned like rivers of lava on a blazing sun.

He'd thought it would somehow get easier, the more they tried. It only got worse. Worse and worse until he was out of his mind with pain, until all higher reason deserted him, until he was a mindless being able only to feel. To suffer.

He'd instructed the Aether to keep trying thirty seconds longer each time they did this. These sessions were now up to a few hours.

Blink.

The pain stopped. Loki looked down to see blood all over the floor. Panting, eyes refusing to focus, he looked up at the Aether. He was certain they'd only been at this for perhaps thirty minutes.

"Wh-why did . . . you stop?" he demanded.

Her swirling eyes looked more black than red, and she dropped to her knees at his side. _"Must we keep doing this?"_ she said, seemingly not caring about the blood soaking her dress.

"You . . . know we do," he said, grabbing her upper arms.

She brushed warm fingers under his eyes, and they came away smeared bright crimson. _"But it's worse than ever before,"_ she protested. _"I hate doing this to you!"_

"You're helping me, dearest," he said, breathing a little easier now. "I need you to be strong for me."

She cupped his face in both her small hands. _"I'm the strongest being in all the universe for you, my beloved. That doesn't change that I still think this isn't working."_

Snorting softly under his breath, amused despite his pain, he clasped her hands and pulled them to his lips to kiss her knuckles. "I think you may be right. This will be the last time, then we'll look for alternatives. Agreed?"

Red-black eyes searched green, then the Aether leaned forward. She kissed his cheeks, eyelids, forehead, and both corners of his mouth. _"All right. One more time."_

**o0o**

Tony meant to keep his promise. He absolutely meant to, because he didn't want to diminish Loki's trust in him. He stayed outside, chopping wood for at least forty minutes before he decided to take a break and get some water. Trouble was, Skaði kept the water she brought in the cabin. Not giving it much thought, Tony trotted inside the little cabin to get a drink.

He crossed the threshold, and that was where his resolve to keep his promise unraveled.

Loki was _screaming_. A dry, horrible, agonized sound as if his body were slowly being torn apart. But worse than the screams were how hoarse they were. As if his throat was raw from it and could no longer produce strong sounds. For a few awful seconds, Tony thought he would vomit, so gut-wrenching was his reaction. The screams abruptly stopped, followed by a wet choking sound.

Then he was moving before his brain gave his body any conscious command. His instinctual reaction to _protect the one he loved_ overrode all higher reason, and it absolutely allowed no room for argument. He had to go. He had to go _right now!_

He all but kicked the bedroom door open.

A scene right out of a horror movie awaited him.

The first thing that hit him was the smell. Bright, hot, and coppery, the smell of blood filled the entire room. Then, the crimson red of it. All over the floor. Loki was on hands and knees, spine arched upward almost like a stretching cat, his body caught in the act of dry-heaving. Blood splattered on wood. The air around him danced with inky black light and pale gold mist. The mist was rising out of Loki's pores where it was infected with black.

A split second of frozen shock.

Loki's green eyes snapped up and met Tony's, and Tony almost recoiled. That was _not_ his Loki. Nothing remotely cognizant lit the emerald surfaces, no recognition of any kind. He looked like a wild animal, terrified and frenzied and furiously angry all at once.

But the pain . . . the _pain_ on that well-loved face had Tony's instinct pushing him forward anyway.

_"Tony!"_ Skaði's voice cried in his mind. _"Stay away!"_

With an incoherent snarl, bloodied lips peeling away from white teeth, Loki lunged up off the floor. Gold light flared around his hand, fingers curled into claws, and he made a slashing motion at the intruder. His hand passed right by, and for a second Tony thought he'd missed.

Then heat burst across his chest, and he looked down in shock to see a large hole in his shirt. Blackened skin and muscle peeled away from bone, and the smell of scorched flesh instantly filled the room with sickly sweet carbon. Tony dropped to his knees, leaden and numb, and promptly vomited all over the floor.

Loki followed him down, a predator sensing sudden weakness in prey.

_"Stop! Loki! Beloved, please stop!"_

Tony managed to lift his head enough to see thick bands of ebony light ensnare Loki, and the golden mist rising from his pores snuffed out. A guttering and spent candle in a stiff breeze. Loki let out another weak, heart-breaking cry, and the black light disappeared. Loki collapsed in the pool of his own blood, entire body shaking wildly.

Feeling a breath away from unconsciousness, Tony tried to crawl toward him. Instead, he toppled the rest of the way to the floor and almost face-planted in his own bile. _Fuck I'm glad I missed that._ He raised his eyes.

"Loki," he croaked, voice appallingly weak. "Hey, look at me, babe. C'mon. Show me those pretty green eyes."

Only a few seconds passed before Loki obeyed, countenance clear of that animal insanity. "Stark," he gasped, pushing himself to hands and knees. The effort seemed to be immense. He crawled to Tony and awkwardly got his arms under the man's head and neck. "You _idiot_." Little more than a breath. "I told you not to come." He pressed his lips to Tony's forehead, cradling him close.

Skaði knelt beside them. _"Tony . . ."_

Loki's eyes abruptly widened, only just seeming to see the damage. "I . . . I can't heal you," he whispered.

To Tony's shock and horror, a tear streaked down the god's face. "Hey," he managed, lifting hand that shook alarmingly, "don't look like that. I'm Tony Stark. You're Loki Silvertongue." He winked. "No one's better at getting out of shit than we are."

Loki gave him a weak smile, capturing Tony's hand and kissing it. "You're such an idiot, Anthony." He made a sound soft as a sigh, but Tony heard what he was sure Loki hadn't meant to say aloud: _"My idiot."_

_"I can't really heal,"_ Skaði said, clasping Tony's other hand, _"but I'll do what I can."_

Loki shook his head. "You can't use that power, dearest. You'll kill him."

_"But what else can I do?"_ she all but wailed. _"I know you imbued him with regenerative magic, but can it work quickly enough to save his life?"_

"Use the energy inside me," Loki said, pulling Tony more fully into his arms. He was still trembling.

And still bleeding. Tony realized he was covered in Loki's blood. "No," he protested. His voice was almost gone. "No, that will hurt you. I won't let you do that."

"Fortunately," Loki whispered, pressing his lips between Tony's eyes, "you don't have the ability to stop me. Skaði, my dearest, you need to be strong for me again."

The most powerful destructive force in the Nine Realms in the body of a little girl surged forward and kissed Loki firmly right on the mouth. Her eyes blazed with red fire. _"One last time. I will not let either of you die."_

**o0o**

It was twenty minutes before their voices gave out. It was another ten before Tony passed out. Her beloved lasted a little longer, and when he finally collapsed, for a split second Skaði feared she'd killed him. But no, he was still alive. Just barely hanging in there. Channeling the gold energy from him into Tony had done nothing to loosen its hold on Loki, and she made herself the promise.

_Never again. No matter how insists, I will not do this to him again. We will find another way. A better way. A way that does not hurt him._

It took her an hour to clean away all the blood and to bandage the half-healed wounds on Tony's chest. Half healed was fine. Half healed and his body would take care of the rest in a few days. Then Tony could take Loki to the city. And maybe that little glimmer of hope he'd felt when Tony described the blue power sources would turn into something.

On the bed where she'd lain them both, Tony stirred.

"You still here, princess?" he murmured.

Smiling, she went to the bedside with a mug of water. _"Of course. You'll be all right now."_

"I'm more worried about him," Tony said, half sitting up and looking down at Loki. "What happened to him? Why did he attack me?"

_"He didn't," _Skaði insisted_. "At least, he didn't mean to. He's damaged, Tony. I think in my trying to help him, I've only made it worse."_ She closed her eyes.

Tony squeezed her hand. "From now on, you two don't do anything without me, okay? He doesn't get to make any decisions without me."

Despite the situation, Skaði couldn't help smile. _"I'm so glad you're here, Tony. Maybe he doesn't know it yet, but you're good for him."_

He winked.

**o0o**

Tony wasn't sure how long after Skaði left he lay there just watching Loki, but after what could have been an hour or twenty minutes, those emerald eyes blinked open. For several seconds, they gazed peacefully up at Tony. Then they glazed with anger.

"I never should have brought you here."

Not what he'd been expecting. Tony gave him a flat look. "We've been over this. And what're you angry about, anyway?"

Loki sat up, movements slow and careful. "I _knew_ something like this would happen. You always assume you know what's best, that somehow just your _presence_ will make all the difference and everything will be fine. It doesn't work like that, Stark. I'm not a broken invention that you can slap some welding on and replace a few gears. You can't possibly understand what's going on inside me right now."

"Okay, first of all," Tony said, striving for patience, "you don't 'slap welding' on anything. Welding is an action, not a fix-it patch. Second, I have a pretty good idea what's going on inside you. Third, I _know_ there isn't really anything I can do except be here for you, and that's what I'll do. You're my lover."

"You're an idiot," Loki snapped, shoving away from Tony and getting to his feet. He seemed stronger now. "Need I kill you to prove just how wrong you are? Because next time, I very well may!"

Tony realized it wasn't just anger provoking this lash-out. It was fear. Lurking deep, deep down in verdant eyes. He didn't acknowledge it. Not to Loki.

"No you won't," he said, confident and cocky. He got up, too. "Know why? Because I'm Tony friggin' Stark." He wrapped his fingers around Loki's thin upper arms.

A few seconds of resistance, then Loki smiled faintly. It faded quickly, and he sagged down onto the bed as if worn out. "I'm too tired to point all the flaws in your logic. If I told you to go away, you wouldn't listen, would you?" He rolled onto his side, facing away from the man.

"Nope," Tony said, folding himself down onto the bed and curling up against Loki's back. He draped an arm around a thin, thin waist. "And just for the record, you're an idiot too."

A barely audible snort. "Yes." A mere breath. "I must be."


End file.
